EP0320756A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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System for scanning documents without loss of image data
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1988-12-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-12-06
Abstract
Abstract A document processing system directs documents (D) at a high rate of speed past an optical scanner (16) which captures written information on the documents as video image data. The video image data is directed over a data channel (28) to a host computer system (30) where the data is stored on a mass data storage device for subsequent retrieval. A buffer (26) is provided between the scanner (16) and the data channel (28), which receives data a rate which varies in relation to the amount of information present on the documents. Data is extracted from the buffer (26) at a rate which is limited by the host computers channel transfer rate. A control means (11) is associated with the buffer and is operable for controlling a hierarchy of actions ranging from slowing down the incoming data stream to stopping the data stream altogether in order to prevent any loss of video image data due to overfilling of the buffer.
Inventors
- 👤 Raymond F. Dinan
- 👤 Hugh Charles Fallon
- 👤 Jerald R. Malin
- 👤 Robert R. Rodite
- 👤 Clair Frederick Rohe
- 👤 Gene Dale Rohrer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 11:25
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/002; H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/04; H04N1/17
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for capturing video image data from documents comprising document feed means (13) for feeding successive documents (D) from a hopper to a document transport (14), document transport means (14) for advancing each successive document past a document scanner (16), document scanner means (16) for scanning the successively transported documents and for generating therefrom a stream of video image data which varies in relation to the amount of information present on the document, a buffer (26) for receiving and temporarily storing the video image data from said document scanner means (16), data output means (28, 30, 32) cooperating with said buffer for extracting video image data from the buffer, and control means (11, 29) operable in response to the level of stored data in said buffer reaching a first predetermined limit (T₁) for effecting stopping of the feed of additional documents by said document feed means (13).
Claim 2
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for capturing video image data from documents comprising document feed means (13) for feeding successive documents (D) from a hopper to a document transport (14), document transport means (14) for advancing each successive document past a document scanner (16), document scanner means (16) for scanning the successively transported documents and for generating therefrom a stream of video image data which varies in relation to the amount of information present on the document, a buffer (26) for receiving and temporarily storing the video image data from said document scanner means (16), data output means (28, 30, 32) cooperating with said buffer for extracting video image data from the buffer, and control means (11, 29) operable in response to the level of stored data in said buffer reaching a first predetermined limit (T₁) for effecting stopping of the feed of additional documents by said document feed means (13).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
A system as defined in claim 1 including additionally image data processing and compression means (22) for receiving the video image data from said scanner means and for processing and compressing the video image data.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system as defined in Claim 1 or 2 wherein said document transport means (14) includes means for receiving and transporting a plurality of successive documents between said document feed means (13) and said document scanner means (16).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system as defined in Claim 1,2 or 3 wherein said control means (11) additionally includes means responsive to the level of stored data in said buffer (26) reaching a second predetermined limit (T₂) lower than said first limit (T₁) for effecting resuming of the feed of documents by said document feed means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
74 words
The system as defined in Claim 1,2,3 or 4 wherein said control means additionally includes means responsive to the level of stored data in said buffer (26) reaching a third predetermined limit (T₃) higher than said first limit (T₁) for effecting immediate stopping of the transport of documents by said document transport means (14) so as to thereby immediately stop the flow of additional data to the buffer from said document scanner means (16).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The system as defined in Claim 1,2,3,4 or 5 wherein said control means additionally includes means for sensing the rate at which said buffer is filling with data, and means responsive to said rate exceeding a predetermined limit for effecting stopping of the feed of documents by said document feed means.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
122 words
A method for capturing video image data from documents comprising feeding successive documents (D) from a hopper to a document transport (14), transporting each successive document past a document scanner (16) and optically scanning the successively transported documents and generating therefrom a stream of video image data which varies in relation to the amount of information present on the document, receiving and temporarily storing the video image data obtained by the document scanner in a buffer (26), extracting video image data from the buffer to a data output device (28, 30, 32), and effecting stopping of the feed of additional documents to the document transport in response to the level of stored data in the buffer reaching a first predetermined limit (T₁).
Claim 9
Independent Claim
122 words
A method for capturing video image data from documents comprising feeding successive documents (D) from a hopper to a document transport (14), transporting each successive document past a document scanner (16) and optically scanning the successively transported documents and generating therefrom a stream of video image data which varies in relation to the amount of information present on the document, receiving and temporarily storing the video image data obtained by the document scanner in a buffer (26), extracting video image data from the buffer to a data output device (28, 30, 32), and effecting stopping of the feed of additional documents to the document transport in response to the level of stored data in the buffer reaching a first predetermined limit (T₁).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method as definded in claim 7 including the further steps of processing and compressing said viedeo image data from said scanner.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method as defined in Claim 7 or 8 including the further step of effecting resuming of the feed of documents (B) to the document transport (14) in response to the level of stored data in the buffer (26) reaching a second predetermined limit (T₂) lower than said first limit (T₁).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method as defined in Claim 7,8 or 9 including the additional step of effecting immediate stopping of the transport of documents (14) in response to the level of stored data in the buffer (26) reaching a third predetermined limit (T₃) higher than said first limit (T₁) so as to thereby immediately stop the flow of additional data to the buffer to prevent loss of data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method as defined in Claim 7,8,9 or 10 including the further step of sensing the rate at which the buffer is filling with data, and effecting stopping of the feed of additional documents to the document transport in response to the rate of filling of the buffer exceeding a predetermined limit.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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